Childhood and adolescence
Henry de Bourbon was born in Pau, the capital of the joint Kingdom of Navarre with the sovereign principality of Béarn. His parents were Queen Joan III of Navarre (Jeanne d'Albret) and her

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During his reign, Henry IV worked through the minister Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, to regularize state finance, promote agriculture, drain swamps, undertake public works,

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During the reign of Henry IV, rivalry continued among France, the Habsburg rulers of Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire for the mastery of Western Europe. The conflict was not resolved until after the Thirty Years' War.
Spain and Italy

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Henry was nicknamed "the Great" (Henri le Grand), and in France is also called le bon roi Henri ("the good king Henry") or le vert galant ("The Green Gallant", for his numerous mistresses). In English he is most often referred to as Henry of Navarre.

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Henry was the target of numerous assassination attempts, including one by Pierre Barrière in August 1593, and another by Jean Châtel in December 1594.
Henry was the target of at

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In 1614, four years after Henry IV's death, a statue was erected in his honour on the Pont Neuf. During the early phase of the French Revolution when it aimed to create a

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Historians have made the assertion that Henry IV was a convinced Calvinist, only changing his formal religious allegiance to adjust, suit or achieve his

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